


A Warrior's Cattitude

by jankykang



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, It's up to you!, M/M, this can either be read as pre-relationship or strictly platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-25 15:39:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18577462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jankykang/pseuds/jankykang
Summary: Olberic befriends a cat during his morning training. Cyrus is thrilled.





	A Warrior's Cattitude

It was their third morning in Goldshore and the sun was starting to make itself known. Sweat trailed down the back of Olberic’s neck, and the breeze coming from the sea was no longer strong enough to keep him cool.

He sheathed his sword. An hour had passed since he had begun his morning training regimen and the sounds of the city were growing. Merchants were setting up their wares, shopkeepers were opening their doors, and townspeople were chatting with their neighbours. More importantly, Olberic’s travel companions would soon be getting ready to leave town, and he didn’t want to keep them waiting.

He took one last look at the sea, breathing in the salty air knowing it would be some time before they would return to the coast. He would miss training on the beach. Not only was it nice for the scenery, but it forced him to pay more attention to his footing and balance—sand wasn’t solid like stone was.

After bidding a silent farewell to the view, Olberic turned to head up the steps from the beach back to town. As he did, movement in his peripheral vision attracted his attention. He stopped, quickly looking to catch what it was. He hadn’t seen or heard anyone descend the steps while he was on the beach, did someone just jump down over the stone wall?

His alarm immediately dissipated when he saw what it was—a small grey cat was walking along the base of the wall, soaking up the sun’s warmth.

Olberic couldn’t stop himself from smiling. It had been a while since he’d encountered an animal that wasn’t trying to kill him, apart from Linde of course. Though there was a big difference between Linde, who he practically considered a sister-in-arms, and this lazy little creature.

Figuring he had some time before he needed to be concerned about holding the group up, Olberic sat on the bottom step and watched the cat as it slowly made its way along the wall, towards him. It eyed him, sizing him up, and he stretched his hand out to it. Its tail swished as it approached carefully, giving him a thorough sniffing once it was close enough.

Disinterested, the cat simply stepped around Olberic to climb the stairs. He was a tiny bit disappointed, but—

“Oof!”

Olberic had not been expecting the cat to jump onto his back—That's what he got for letting his guard down. Though he wore thick enough layers that he didn’t get scratched, he winced when he heard the distinct sound of his tunic ripping as the cat clawed its way up onto his shoulder.

“You’re a wicked little one, aren’t you?” He asked before looking around to make sure there was still no one around close enough to hear him. He cleared his throat and grabbed the cat under its front legs, removing it from his shoulder to hold it out in front of him. It didn’t resist.

Olberic was no apothecary, but he could confirm that this was a female cat. She also wasn’t a stray—her fur was clean and neat and there was a silky blue ribbon tied around her neck.

He put her down in front of himself.

“Where is your owner?” He asked in futility. “They’re likely looking for you.” He extended his hand again to scratch behind her ears as she meowed, not a care in the world.

She ducked her head away after a moment and stepped closer, rubbing her face against his leg after some more sniffing.

“Perhaps I spoke too soon. You don’t seem so wicked after all.” She peered behind him as he stoked her back, and Olberic decided that he’d better get going if he wanted time to have a proper breakfast and clean himself up a little bit.

He got up, careful not to step on his new feline acquaintance, and started to head up the stairs. When he was halfway up, the cat bounded past him, stopping at the top and turning to look down at him.

“I don’t have any food for you,” he told her. “You won’t get anything from following me around.”

His words, shockingly, did not deter her. She trotted along behind him all the way back to the inn, keeping up fairly well with his long strides.

When he opened the door, she ran right in. The innkeeper behind the desk looked back and forth between her and Olberic distastefully a few times before speaking.

“Terribly sorry sir, but we do not allow pets in here.”

Olberic frowned. While he did not wish to argue with the innkeeper about the policy and could easily coax the cat back outside, there was something troubling him.

“You’ve allowed a snow leopard for the past three nights.” Surely that was more objectionable than a regular cat.

The innkeeper’s distasteful expression morphed into a full-on scowl. “With all due respect sir, that thing would have clawed my eyes out had I said no.”

She certainly would not have, Olberic thought, a little offended on both Linde and H'aanit's behalves. Oh well, he wasn’t one to tell others how to run their businesses. Smiling politely, he bent down to scoop the cat back up and deposit her outside. Just as he reached the door, a voice from the stairs drew his attention back in.

“Ah, good morning Olberic!” Olberic turned around. It was Cyrus, coming down from their room. “How was your—Oh, my. What have you got there?”

Olberic thought it was quite obvious what he had there. “She followed me back from the beach.”

Cyrus gasped in a quiet, delighted way and quickly crossed the room to get a better look, his cloak billowing behind him in his haste.

“Oh, well aren’t you pretty?” He cooed as the cat sniffed his offered hand before accepting his affections. Olberic nearly laughed to see the professor, usually so composed and scholarly (if a little dramatic at times), immediately become so enamored of this cat.

She meowed. The innkeeper coughed pointedly.

“Ah, my apologies,” Olberic said to him. He pushed the door open with his shoulder and stepped outside, holding the door open as Cyrus followed him. They took a few steps away from the entrance before Olberic set the cat down, Cyrus crouching down to resume petting her.

“She’s very friendly,” he observed.

“She is,” Olberic agreed. “It didn’t take long for me to warm up to her, even after she tore my tunic.”

“Did she?”

Olberic turned to show him where she had climbed up his back. He hadn’t yet assessed the damage himself, though he knew there must be some.

“Ah, yes.” Cyrus traced a finger over the torn fabric, light enough that Olberic barely felt it, then turned his attention back to the cat. “But who could stay mad at you?”

Olberic laughed. “I certainly didn’t.”

Cyrus smiled, utterly content and perfectly charming. “I would wager we can find someone in town who’ll patch it up for you.”

Olberic hummed, distracted by how happy the cat seemed to be to receive attention from Cyrus. She was rubbing herself all over his hands and ankles, weaving around his shoes and exploring under his cloak only to come back around and lay down right in front of him, curled up against his foot.

“She seems to really like you.”

“Perhaps I’m cheating,” Cyrus said with a grin.

“Cheating? How do you mean?”

“When I learned we would be travelling to the Frostlands, I taught myself a new spell. It’s very low-intensity fire magic, all it does is heat my skin. I haven’t quite mastered it yet, but I’m able to concentrate it in specific areas. At the moment, I’ve made my hands and feet warm to trick her into enjoying my company.”

Despite being fascinated by Cyrus’ magic, Olberic couldn’t help but laugh at the last part. “I’m sure she would enjoy your company without being tricked into it. I quite enjoy it and I’m not being fooled, as far as I know.”

“A—Ah, well.” Cyrus fumbled over the words, just a little bit. “That’s the thing about being fooled. You don’t know it’s happening until it’s already happened.” He paused, still stroking the cat’s back. Olberic reached out to scratch behind her ears. “I quite enjoy your company as well.”

Olberic was about to respond to that, when a loud cry startled the both of them.

“Luna!”

A boy, no more than eight years old, came running down the street towards them. At the sound of his voice, the cat—Luna—lifted her head and sauntered over to meet him. The boy immediately knelt down once she was close enough and began petting her, tears streaming down his face.

“Oh, thank you sirs!” He managed with his shaky voice. “She ran out last night, and Ma wouldn’t let me stay out looking for her, so I got up real early this morning and looked all over for her. I was so worried about you, Luna!” He spoke in the typical hurried and wavering cadence of an upset child.

Cyrus tried to console him. “Don’t be upset, I’m sure you take excellent care of her.” The child started crying harder. Luna poked her nose into his knee. Cyrus looked mortified. Olberic supposed that, even though he knew that Cyrus was nothing if not earnest, his words may have come across as sarcastic, given the circumstances.

Olberic chuckled, dropping to one knee to be at eye-level with the child, or at least closer to it. “It’s alright, lad. She’s a smart animal. I’m sure you would have found her even if we hadn’t.” The boy sniffled, calming down a little. “Perhaps it would be wise to put a bell on her collar. That way if she gets out again, you can follow her more easily.”

The boy blinked at him, wide-eyed. He sniffled again, wiped his nose on his sleeve, and nodded. “Y—Yeah, that’s… a good idea.” He picked Luna up, cradling her against his body. “Okay girl, it’s time to go home. Um, thank you again, sirs.” The boy looked shyly up at both of them. Olberic rose to his feet, ruffled the boy’s hair, and gave a gentle parting pat to Luna’s head.

Cyrus still looked embarrassed after the boy had left.

“It appears I still have yet to learn when to keep my mouth shut.”

Olberic laughed and patted his socially inept friend on the shoulder. “It’s alright, Professor. The boy was just shaken up, you would have been fine under different circumstances.”

Cyrus sighed, shaking his head. “Still, I am glad you were here to take over.”

“Say, have you ever used that magic heat trick on Linde?”

Cyrus laughed. “I have, in fact. Though it was back before I had figured out how to concentrate it in certain areas, so it affected my whole body. Not only was it wholly uncomfortable, but she enjoyed it so much that I had to stop out of fear that she would simply lay on top of me and flatten me.”

Olberic smiled at the mental image. Poor Cyrus. “I’m glad you made it out alive.”

“Yes, I may not be a mighty warrior like yourself, but I dare say I will not be taken down by an overly-pleased cat. Now, my friend, shall we get some breakfast?”

Olberic suddenly noticed that he was very hungry.

“Sounds good to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!!


End file.
